Songoftheday 4/7/21 - Boy listen carefully to me now, 'cause this is something every man should know...
from the album Robyn Is Here (1995 Sweden/1997 USA)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #32 (one week)
Weeks in the Airplay Top-40: 7
Today's song of the day comes from Swedish pop siren Robyn, who had scored a pair of top ten hits in America with "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love" from her debut album Robyn Is Here. The third song from the set promoted to radio in the U.S. and the UK was actually her second and breakthrough single in her homeland, "Do You Really Want Me (Show Some Respect)". Written by Robyn with the "Ghost" production team of Ulf Lindstrom and Johan Ekhe, it fit with the "funky white chick" image her record company was promoting, but it wasn't as musically nuanced as her first two American hits with Max Martin. I mean, the chorus is literally plagiarizing the children's ditty "Ring Around The Roses" with a Darkchild-like beat, which kind of throws off what charm she gives to the vocals, as she tries to lay down the law with her man. I'm surprised it was chosen as the third single, but since it was a big European hit I guess they were hedging their bets, but the "urban mix" revamp was an improvement from the original from 1995...
Since "Do You Really Want Me" wasn't released as a commercial single in the States, the song wasn't able to place on Billboard magazine's official Hot 100 pop chart. However, the song got enough radio love to make it into the top-40 of the airplay component of the tally in April of 1998. Internationally, the single made the top ten in Canada at #6, as well as in its original release in Sweden (#2), Denmark (#4), and Norway (#7). It also got to #20 in the UK.
Robyn released her sophomore effort, My Truth, in 1999. An intensely personal album, the set was criminally shelved in America because of its content, which included reflections on the abortion she had just as her career took off in America. Nevertheless, the set was received well in her homeland, going to #2 on the albums chart, and spinning off a top ten single in "Electric". With the label troubles interfering with her art, Robyn left the BMG label for Jive Records, only to have the behemoth buy Jive out before her third set Don't Stop The Music. While again getting to #2 on the albums chart in Sweden in 2002 and scoring two top ten hits with "Keep This Fire Burning" (SE #3) and "Don't Stop The Music" (SE #7), again the label stopped any international release.
With this second burn, Robyn left to start her own independent label Konichiwa, which she retains to this day. Her self-titled fourth release was a revelation in her sound, going from the manufactured pseudo-soul of before to an electronica milieu that she was much more at home with. She returned to the international spotlight in 2007 with her collaboration with the Swedish DJ Kleerup on "With Every Heartbeat", which went all the way to #1 on the British Singles chart, and climbed to #5 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart and #12 on their Dance Airplay list. Then came "Handle Me", which got to #17 in Britain,and in the States #4 on the Dance Airplay list and #5 on the Dance Club Play tally. Also from the record, "Be Mine", which was the original lead release in Nordic countries, scored a third top ten hit in the UK at #10. The Robyn album popped on to the Billboard 200 sales chart in America at #100, and gave the singer her first Grammy nomination in 2009 for Best Dance/Electronica Album, which went to French electro-disc duo Daft Punk for their Alive 2007 record.
Despite the momentum from this successful album, it was a long three year stretch for Robyn's next move, but it was worth the wait. 2010 saw the artist release three EP's (extended play records), titled Body Talk, with an album-sized distillation of the three parts into one. First single "Dancing On My Own", which has since become her most beloved single, gave Robyn her first and only #1 hit in Sweden, while making the top ten in the UK (#8), and on the American Dance Club (#3) and Airplay (#6) lists. The song "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 here at #113. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2011, which Rihanna took home for "Only Girl (In The World)". Body Talk Part 2 had the hit "Hang With Me", which made the Dance Club Play top 10 at #10. And the third part had "Call Your Girlfriend", which finally got Robyn to #1 in the U.S. on the Dance Club Play chart. Again, she was nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy, which the king of "dubstep" Skrillex won for "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites". (It possibly was the most competitive year in that category.)
Robyn re-emerged in 2014 with a collaborative album with the Norwegian electro-pop duo Royksopp, Do It Again. The title track "Do It Again" landed a second #1 club hit for her, while the EP was her highest ranking on the Billboard 200 at #14. They were up for a Grammy for Best Dance//Electronic Album, which went to Aphex Twin for his Syro release.
The pop icon's most recent studio album, Honey, was released in 2018, where it slipped onto the Billboard 200 sales list at #40. From that set "Missing U" went to #13 in Sweden, and was a minor hit in the UK at #87.
(5/10)
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Here's the original 1995 production of "Do You Really Want Me", which is much worse and emphasizes the sing-song chorus...
next up is Robyn live in Sweden in 1999....
and lastly, on a television appearance in 1998...
Up tomorrow: R&B group have romantic limbs.
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